REVIEW: FIRST COW

Timing is everything, First Cow was released just as the Covid-19 pandemic hit. You didn’t see the movie in a theater. Besides, the movie theaters were closed. In fact, you may have seen the First Cow advertised on one of the many streaming platforms. While distancing and isolating ourselves from the world, it was on a streaming platform where we watched this movie.

From writing to directing, Kelly Reichart’s historical western gives you a glimpse of the economic conditions of another time and place. Capturing the true natural beauty of the wildness of that period, the domestic cow plays the female lead role.

Obviously, you might not give the First Cow a chance to play to the end with the closing credits. Please, don’t give up! The First Cow transports you back into time to 1820 on the Oregon Trail. Admittingly, the movie is slow-paced which would be typical of that time period. However, the movie speeds up once the first cow actually arrives in Oregon.

While the action takes place during the 19th Century, the opening scene takes place during the present with a dog and woman coming upon a shallow grave with two skeletons.

Suddenly, you are in the Oregon wilderness. Otis Cookie Figowitz (played by. John Magaro who provides a convincing show) is a reticent chef who is traveling with a group of obnoxious hostile and belligerent fur trappers. There is no pleasing the trappers. Sadly, Cookie’s foraging efforts are never appreciated or good enough for the bullying trappers

While foraging, Cookie befriends King-Lu, who is a Chinese Immigrant, (played by Orion Lee who offers a commendable portrayal). Since Lu killed a Russian man, he is on the run. At night fall, Cookie gives Lu shelter and sees him crossing the river the next morning.

After Cookie and Lu are reunited, the two men bonded becoming fast friends. While Lu is worldly and has traveled extensively, he longs for his own farm. On the other hand, Cookie has moved from the East and dreams of opening a hotel or bakery in San Francisco.

Naturally, the friendship between Cookie and Lu, the two poor protagonists of the movie play the opposite of the affluent Englishman who is bringing a domestic cow from the East into the wild West. While the cow’s journey began with a mate and a calf, only the first cow survives the trip which demonstrates the harsh reality of the 19th Century.

The affluent Englishman, Chief Factor (played by Toby Jones who bestows a convincing performance) values the cow for the milk that it provides him in his new settlement in Oregon.

The heist! The small-scale stealing of the cow’s milk which for Cookie and Lu is their excellent chance and opportunity for a better and brighter future.

While the cow is tied to a tree outside of Factor’s home. Cookie and Lu procure the one ingredient that makes their biscuits eatable. Working together, Lu and Cookie make “oil-cakes” that become a tremendous hit with the people demanding more. With Cookie being a chef, it was a natural business endeavor. Never admitting that they are using the milk from Factor’s cow, Lu lies. Well, Lu doesn’t tell the whole truth convincing the hungry men that it is a secret Chinese recipe.

Cookie and Lu continue their great crime. Amassing a fortune, it wasn’t much in today’s standards.

In a loving manner, Cookie continues to talk to the cow while stealing the milk with Lu in the tree as a lookout.

Indeed, animals are featured in this film. As for the other human characters, the actors briefly appear to complement and complete the story. The other characters are Chief Factor’s Wife (played by Lily Gladstone), Man with Raven (played by Rene Auberjonois), Totillicum (played by Gary Farmer), Jack, (played by Dylan Smith), Fiddler (played by Stephen Malkmus), Chief Factor’s Servant (played by Mitchel Saddleback) and Thomas (played by Jared Kasowski.

Watching the friendship unfold, First Cow depicts 1820’s supply and demand economics that is attuned to human nature and historical detail. The movie's photography doesn’t disappoint.

There are many first. You could write an endless list of first: first date, first kiss, first car, first job, first home, etc. You get the picture! The First Cow is a must-see movie. representing the first cow in Oregon.

At the end of the day, should Cookie and Lu have stopped while they were ahead? Would you have stopped? Could the movie have ended differently? If you watch the First Cow to the end with closing credits, you will have a better understanding of how the West was won, civilized, or both. Your choice. You first!